Concentration
by nojohi
Summary: AN: I do not own the Percy Jackson/Heroes of Olympus series or any of its characters. Leo tries to figure out some new attention issues while he and Calypso start their travels with a bang.


Leo couldn't concentrate. The inside of his head felt as smokey and tangled as the current state of his hair; his skin felt like an over-heated engine.

He couldn't figure out if it was an after-effect of his recent death by fire (who wouldn't feel like a well-done marshmallow after that?) or a very-current-effect of Calypso's arms around his waist and her cinnamon scent filling his nostrils.

He blinked, a wave of dizziness washing over him, and said out loud "Whoa."

"What?" Calypso asked, her arms tightening ever so slightly. Leo felt a jolt in his gut.

"Umm, nothing! Just...Festus might not be the only one who need repairs."

"Oh." A note of concern had entered her voice, and her hold on him tightened again. Leo kind of wanted to tell her to stop, because he was pretty sure she was making it worse, but he decided not to.

The dizziness hit him again, and he braced himself against Festus' neck.

"Leo, do you know where we're going?" Calypso asked in his ear. He swallowed, trying furiously to blink or wink away the spots that had suddenly swarmed his vision.

"Er, to fix Festus." There was a buzzing in his ears now, too, and he was feeling slightly panicky, but he tried to keep it out of his voice. "And me, apparent-"

"I know that, but _where?_"

Leo really couldn't see. He wondered for a minute if his eyeballs had spontaneously combusted.

"I—Um."

"_Leo!_" At the same instant, Leo felt the air around them _whoosh_. Calypso screamed.

"Uh-oh. We're falling, aren't we?"

"What do you mean, aren't we?" Calypso shouted indignantly over the rush of wind.

"I can't see!" Leo shouted back. "I think something's malfunctioning!"

"In your brain or in your stupid metal dragon?"

"Uhhh, probably both?" Leo guessed.

Calypso made a growl of frustration, then yelled "Well, fix it!"

"No can do!" He yelled back. "There's not exactly-" and then his vision cleared. "Oh, gods." The ocean in front of them was calm and sparkling, but Festus was falling rapidly, gears and machinery inside his head whirring and whining. Several hundred feet ahead, Leo could see a long, rocky shoreline and clusters of houses below tall cliffs.

"Okay, buddy." Leo clenched his hands on the base of Festus' metal neck. "If we can just make it as far as those cliffs..." he flipped open a small panel and began working frantically, his fingers dancing through the gears and wires with a steady rapidness. There was still a buzzing in his ears, but somehow the chaos and urgency of the situation made his head feel much clearer. Which was probably kind of messed up. He decided that it would be better not to mention that to Calypso. She might throw something at him. If there was anything left to throw by the time this was over. If there were any unbroken bones left to throw it with.

They were getting dangerously close to the shoreline now. If Festus didn't pull up soon, they'd slam into the side of the cliffs instead of landing on top of them.

"Leo..." Calypso said in his ear, her voice equal parts anger and fear. He flipped one more switch and then slammed the panel shut.

"Hang on, Sunshine!" She pressed her face into his shoulder in response, and Leo held his breath as the shore got rapidly larger.

A hundred feet from the wall of towering rock, Festus jerked upward, and before there was time to think, they had hit the top of the cliff and were tumbling. Leo winced, squeezing his eyes shut, but he grabbed Calypso's hands on his chest, determined not to let go of her even if there was no way to hang on to Festus.

Finally, after a few painful, blurred seconds, they rolled to a stop.

Cautiously, Leo opened one eye. Calypso had fallen on top of him, and their noses were smashed together.

"Hey," he said, swallowing. "Alright, Sunshine?" She pushed herself up a bit, coughing, and then glared down at him.

"Leo Valdez, you-"

"Saved your life? I know, right? I am so cool."

"You-" she choked, and her almond eyes were so close that Leo could see all the emotions chasing through them. His head buzzed.

Yep, that was definitely part of the problem. But he wasn't going to fix that part.

Calypso looked like she was starting to calm down, and the expression she was wearing now made Leo think she was going to kiss him.

"Wait!" Leo said. "It's my turn." and instantly felt like an idiot.

Calypso blinked. "Your turn?"

Dangit. Why had he said such a stupid thing? "Um. You know, like..."

She raised an eyebrow. "Yes?"

Leo gulped, trying to sound casual. "You know...you're usually the one who, uh, randomly kisses me? So, it's my turn?" Calypso's eyebrow went up even further. It was a perfect eyebrow. And holy Hephaestus, he was a perfect idiot.

"Randomly kisses you?" She echoed, and Leo flinched.

"Ahh, no, I didn't mean it like that, I meant...just...like, you kiss me in the middle of saying something or at a weird moment—no, wait, I didn't mean weird, I meant-" and then he stopped, because she had leaned down and pressed her lips into his and her hair was falling around him like a beautiful chestnut curtain and he had time to notice that she tasted like cinnamon, too, and oh, gods, he loved her.

When she pulled away he said, a little hoarsely, "I don't get a turn, do I?" Her beautiful lips twitched in a mischievous, triumphant smile, which really made Leo wish he did get a turn, but she shook her head and sat up, taking his hand and pulling him with her. Leo glanced around and saw that Festus was a short distance away, looking battered but not destroyed.

"Great job, buddy!" Leo called to the dragon, staggering to his feet with Calypso's help. Festus whirred in response and Leo and Calypso walked slowly over to the edge of the cliff to see where they had landed. When he saw the city below, Leo took a step back.

"Wow. Deja vu." Calypso's eyes were growing wide. She turned to look at him quickly.

"You have been here before?"

"Yeah." Leo said. "After the last time I left Ogygia, I ended up here and-" he stopped, remembering the cafe where he'd waited for the Argo II. A grin spread slowly across his face.

"This is Malta, isn't it?" Calypso asked. She seemed slightly dazed. Leo wondered if that was because of where they were or because of the tumble they'd just taken. It was most likely not because of how charming he was.

"Yeah." he answered. "It's where you're from, isn't it?" he added, remembering the pamphlet Frank had read. Calypso nodded, staring at the city below. Leo took a deep breath, then reached out and laced his fingers through hers. She turned to look at him.

"Come on, Sunshine," He said, smiling as wide as he could and ignoring the abnormally loud pounding of his heart, "I know this great cafe." Calypso looked at him searchingly for a minute, then smiled back, her face glowing, if it was possible, even more than usual.

"Alright, Leo Valdez, show me the world." She said.  
"Well, I don't have a magic carpet, but I guess a magic dragon is close enough."

Calypso raised her eyebrow (that perfect, perfect eyebrow) quizzically. "What?"

"Err, nevermind." He started walking towards a path down the cliffs, tugging her along gently. "Let's start with some coffee. Well actually, coffee is kind of disgusting, let's start with soda. Or we can do tea, if you like that. Oh, man, now that I think about it, they actually have this brand of lemonade named after you! You've gotta try that. And chicken nuggets. And-"

"Leo." He stop walking and shot a hasty glance towards her, but she was laughing.

He _had _to install some sort of mechanism to stop his brain from frying every time he looked at her.

"Yeah?" He asked. She stepped closer, squeezing his hand.

"Thank you."

Leo grinned. "No problem."

They started down the cliff again. Not being able to concentrate wasn't the problem, Leo realized. He could concentrate just fine on Calypso.


End file.
